Putting to rest reports of discord in the run-up to their summit, leaders of the Group of 20 nations have cautiously vowed to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper's goal of slashing government deficits in half by 2013.

"While growth is returning, the recovery is uneven and fragile, unemployment in many countries remains at unacceptable levels, and the social impact of the crisis is still widely felt," G20 leaders wrote in the final communique issued at the conclusion of their summit in Toronto Sunday.

In that light, summit participants agreed to Prime Minister Harper's calls for serious deficit cutting.

"Advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016," the communique states, outlining the G20 plan for what has come to be known as "fiscal consolidation."

"Fiscal consolidation is not an end in itself," Harper told reporters at his closing summit press conference, acknowledging voices - led by U.S. President Barack Obama - that have warned against a sudden end to stimulus spending.

There is "an ongoing role for stimulus in the short term," the prime minister added.

"G20 still has a lot to do to fully entrench the global recovery but these are important steps forward. They are steps that Canada has been seeking," Harper said.

"This is clearly a very, very major victory for the prime minister," CTV Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife told CTV News Channel Sunday, noting predictions ahead of the summit that the fractious assembly of G20 leaders would fail to overcome differences on how to best achieve economic recovery.

'Violent agreement'

While some nations agree that continued stimulus spending is needed, others argued that cutting government spending and raising taxes are best to reign in ever-growing deficits.

In his closing remarks, President Obama downplayed reports of those diverging opinions, suggesting the opposite was true.

"This has really been an issue on which there has been very violent agreement between the parties," Obama told reporters in Toronto.

"We have to make sure we're not rushing to the exits too quickly and all at the same time, but we also have to be mindful that the debt and deficit levels that many advanced countries have right now are unsustainable and have to be dealt with in a serious way."

Limiting deficit-reduction goals to the most industrialized nations, offering governments flexibility on when to start balancing their books and eschewing country-by-country goals all contributed to the final agreement.

According to the communique, the leaders agree that if they succeed in turning around the global economy, they can increase global output by $4 trillion, create tens of millions more jobs, lift millions more people out of poverty and significantly reduce global imbalances.

'Substantial progress' 

Harper can also claim a measure of victory on another of the summit's most contentious issues: the bank tax. In the weeks leading up to the G20, the prime minister had loudly opposed any move that would punish Canadian taxpayers for the failure of banks in other countries.

In the final communique, the matter is left for individual countries to determine their own measures - from a bank tax to stiffer cash reserve requirements or other mechanisms - to prevent taxpayers from being on the hook should any bank suffer a similar collapse in the future.

"Substantial progress has been made on reforms that will materially raise levels of resilience of our banking systems," the communique states, outlining the aim of implementing such changes by the end of 2012.

"The amount of capital will be significantly higher and the quality of capital will be significantly improved. This will enable banks to withstand, without extraordinary government support, stresses of a magnitude associated with the recent financial crisis."

Specifics concerning bank capital requirements and leverage ratios are left to be determined at the upcoming G20 get-together in Seoul, South Korea next November.

As for financial sector reform, Canada has held out its own banking system, with its existing strict oversight and capital and liquidity requirements, as a model for other nations to follow. But that issue has also been pushed to the next G20 meeting.

Other highlights of the G20 communique include:

• a call to "deal with the consequences" of the devastating oil spill that has been spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20
• passing reference to the need for "greater exchange rate flexibility" that makes no mention of China's recent announcement that it would allow its exchange rate to rise against the dollar 
• reaffirmation of agreements to cancel Haiti's debt, including a pledge to "contribute our fair shares of the associated costs as soon as possible"
• a call for "acceleration" of reform of the International Monetary Fund aimed at giving emerging economies more say in its work

The G20 includes the world's major industrial countries - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Italy and Russia - plus major developing nations including China, India, Brazil and South Korea. Together, their economies account for approximately 85 percent of the world's economic output.

In his closing remarks, Harper stressed the importance of overcoming differences among his G20 counterparts. Suggesting that, "there isn't really a Canadian economy any more," the prime minister said, "the general trajectory of the Canadian economy is fundamentally determined by the state of the global economy."

"We cannot be effective at major economic matters any longer unless we work with our other economic partners around the world and work with them closely and intimately." 

Prepared with reports from CTV's Robert Fife and The Canadian Press